Spotted at the Middlesex County Fair, August 2011

I am hugely relieved that it’s Friday. It’s been a pretty crazy week for me, but only crazy because I tend to make mountains out of mole hills in my head and as a result, put a whole lot more stress on myself. Ever do that? I’m famous for it! I’d love to hash it out here, but it’s honestly the most boring work story about people not responding to my VERY IMPORTANT TIME-SENSITIVE emails. In retrospect, it’s never as big of a deal as I make it out to be, certainly not to the point where I’m giving myself headaches. And definitely not to the point where I’m calling whoever will listen to me to vent, “Can you believe this?! Who doesn’t answer emails?! Who?!”. 

So here’s to overreacting! And the much-needed 3-day weekend! For some of us anyway.

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• This is too cool: how to turn your room into a spooky forest.

• Would you jump?

• A chocolate malted in cookie form aka a Whoppers lover’s dream!

• Avocado upgrade.

• Free stuff!

• Pop your pimple, the safe way.

“Salad is not dinner.”

Is what I used to say before I tried this salad.

This Thai crunch salad looked similar to the Thai pizza at California Pizza Kitchen that is possibly one of the more delicious things to ever exist, so giving this a go seemed a no-brainer. I whipped it up for dinner and, after the first bite, practically dove into all of its yummy glory. I love the crunchy/soft contrast but the sweet chili dressing is the real showstopper.

For posts like these, I’ll usually post a version of the recipe here, but since mine was only slightly adapted from the original (and also I’m a wee bit lazy this week), see here for the full recipe. I omitted the onions, cucumbers and carrots and added a few drops of Sriracha sauce for a little kick.

So good, in fact, Bob completely forgot his aversion to raw cabbage while eating this. I was delighted when he took a few bites, looked at me and said incredulously, “Wow, this is really good”. His eyebrows were furrowed so I knew he meant serious business. The proof is always in the eyebrows.

I am so sad Orphans has run its course because the play was excellent and the cast was equally as amazing. I’ve seen quite a few Broadway shows and feel confident in saying: the musicals on Broadway are great, but the plays, oh the plays! The best are wonderful and beautiful and leave you feeling invigorated. Superb stage acting is just one of those things that leaves you breathless and thinking, wow that was…tremendous. I left that show teary-eyed and affected. Do I need to say it? I loved it. Tom Sturridge completely deserves that Tony nomination for his captivating and sensitive performance, but where’s the love for Ben Foster and Alec Baldwin, Tony committee? They deserve it too.

We debated going downtown to Macaron Parlour. We were standing amongst the Andy Warhol tees in Uniqlo discussing going aaaaaall the way downtown vs. just calling it a day.

After three minutes of that silly conversation, we both knew what was going to happen. Sweets always win.

Since we were in the East Village, we went to a terrific little Mediterranean restaurant, Virage, for dinner. Nine out of ten times, I will always opt for the spinach fettucine here because it is the best ever and no one can tell me differently. They do this thing where they put sweet tomatoes on the pasta (tucked under the cheese and chicken) and at first I thought, tomatoes on spinach fettucine? Then I ate it and thought, tomatoes on spinach fettucine! They also have this great appetizer of Black Mission figs wrapped in bacon. The one problem is that they only serve five, so me and Bob argue over who gets to eat the last fig. We halfed it. It’s fair, but unsatisfying. Half a bacon-wrapped fig? Give. Me. More.

Then we came home and I fell into a macaron-induced coma. It was heavenly. More weekends like this please!

Hope you have a happy weekend!

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• East Coast, brace yourselves.

• Each of these incredible celebrity photographs tell a story.

• Parenting lessons from around the world . Even as a non-parent, I found this so interesting.

• Is this supposed to be the Big Mac’s secret sauce? Because if so, then YES.

• Be happy you don’t live in any of these.

Over the weekend, I saw Sophie and she is still just as charming. Except only weeks ago, she was this calm little thing that nestled in the crook of your arm and now she’s wild and wiggly and deep into her teething stage. She nips everything at from pinkie toes to chins to boobs. Nothing’s safe from those sharp puppy teeth.

But you can’t help but adore her, even when she’s trying to snack on your calves.

Even my Dad thinks she’s a baby and likes to treat her as such.

She’s a princess and she knows it.

*All photos taken with my iPhone.

I had a second grade teacher named Ms. Mirana*. What I remember most about her was that she was a short, heavy-set woman with big eyes that bulged every time she scolded a student. Her voice was high-pitched and nasal and she wore long, pleated skirts, shiny nude tights and orthopedic shoes every day.

Oh, and one another thing. She didn’t like me. I have no proof of this and she never told me as much, but I felt it at the time and still believe it to this day.

One day, around Christmastime, we were making wreaths out of brown paper bags, ribbon and little accessories. Since Ms. Mirana was using a hot glue gun to stick the decorations on, she had each of us come up to her desk with our paper wreath. It was my turn to get my wreath glued and it just so happened that Chris, the class clown, made some kind of commotion behind me, which prompted me to look back quickly. Well…Ms. Mirana missed and got glue on her desk because, of course, I was the one who diverted her attention. So, naturally, I was the one who was responsible for her mistake. Her argument being that if I wouldn’t have looked back, she wouldn’t have been distracted. Never mind the kid who was jumping on his seat and and wearing his lunch on his head. “See what you made me do! I almost glued my own finger! You know better than to pay any attention to him!” As if that wasn’t enough, she instructed the class to sarcastically thank me. And so everyone, in unison, turned to me and shouted, “Thank you, Jillian!”

At an after-school program, a group of us kids and Ms. Mirana were playing some game where everyone holds hands in a circle and whoever is chosen has to weave their way in and out of the circle until the singing stops (do we know what this game is called?). It was my turn to weave. I ducked under kids’ hands, in and out and in and out. Finally I stopped and looked up, stilll crouching on the ground. For a couple of seconds, I had no idea where I was. I was surrounded by a large sheet of pale pink flowers and…oh no…underwear! Old lady underwear! Bloomers! I was under Ms. Mirana’s pink flower dress. The wind was so strong that day and her long skirt was so wide and flowy that I somehow ended up underneath it without even realizing. “Get out of there!” she yelled, glaring at me as if I somehow planned it. I was mortified. And I never played that game again.

Ms. Mirana had a special reading group in her class called “The Reading Rainbow.” It was exclusively for the best readers in class and students who generally did well on Spelling and Langauge Arts tests, both of which I excelled at and yet I wasn’t a part of it. They would read and discuss stories in a small group in the middle of the classroom, while the rest of us did quiet penmanship practice at our desks. They would have such lively and interesting discussions! How I longed to be reading those same stories and be a part of their conversation. When I asked Ms. Mirana to be invited into The Reading Rainbow, she told me she wasn’t accepting any new students. SHUT. DOWN.

Several years later, I encountered her again after school (I stayed in the same parochial school from 1st to 8th grade). I was talking with a friend of mine about how I loved Buffy and Dawson’s Creek, but didn’t particularly care for 7th Heaven. If you don’t aready know 7th Heaven was a show about a Protestant minister and his family. Very wholesome, very Full House meets Degrassi. I told my friend, “I don’t really like 7th Heaven.” Ms. Mirana, who happened to be listening eavesdropping, yelled out, “Of course you don’t like 7th Heaven! Because it’s about good people and family values, that’s why!” Then she stormed off.

As an adult, I’ve learned to just laugh it off. It’s kinda’ funny! She was a grumpy old lady after all. But it’s certainly something that stands out in my mind, as these were the first few embarassing encounters I had as a kid that I can recall.

My question to you is: ever have a teacher that didn’t like you?

*Names have been changed to protect the guilty

Who said the 80′s were tacky? My mom was absolutely fabulous during that decade (and still is!), as I learned this weekend while sifting through some old boxes of toys, clothes and photos.

Also in those same boxes, I found this hunky specimen. Oh yes.

My mom makes it look so easy. She has done so much for this family without so much as a single complaint. She is nurturing, goofy, patient, extremely huggable and is the best shopping buddy a girl could ask for (When we’re trying on clothes in the fitting room, her best line is “Mmmm..that does nothing for you”. Gotta’ respect the honesty. I’ve since picked up that line when shopping with friends, which I hope they appreciate as much as I do!). At our family get-togethers, she’s the one working hard behind the scenes, cleaning and making things comfortable for everyone. And she also makes the meanest bowl of comforting rice with milk (even better than my grandmother’s, ssshhh). She is so much more than I could possibly ever put into words here. There isn’t enough space or time to express it! Thanks Mom for being your lovely self.

Hope you all have a happy weekend!

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• This is by far the best thing I’ve seen all week. Be prepared to fall in love with every second of this video (Found via Kaity).

• Most awkward handshakes ever. Number 15 made laugh so hard.

• Low carb lunches to battle the mid-afternoon slump.

• Writing advice from the Spice Girls.

• The worst things said by teachers (the comments are equally interesting).